Myanmar says to amnesty prisoners before elections

UNITED NATIONS – july 14 – Myanmar is planning to amnesty prisoners to enable them to take part in national elections next year, at the request of U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the country’s U.N. envoy said on Monday.

But, addressing the U.N. Security Council, Ambassador Than Swe did not say how many political prisoners would be released, or when, or whether they would include key figures like opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

During a July 3-4 visit to Myanmar, Ban pressed the ruling military junta to free all political prisoners, including Nobel peace laureate Suu Kyi, who is on trial on charges of breaking the conditions of her house arrest.

“At the request of the secretary-general, the Myanmar government is processing to grant amnesty to prisoners on humanitarian ground and with a view to enabling them to participate in the 2010 general elections,” Than Swe said, speaking in English.

He said the Myanmar government “intends to implement all appropriate recommendations that (the) secretary-general had proposed.” But during Ban’s visit the junta refused to allow him to meet Suu Kyi, saying this could influence her trial.

Rights groups say there are more than 2,000 political prisoners in Myanmar. If the government releases a significant number of them, the move could be seen as justifying Ban’s trip, which many analysts have so far portrayed as a failure.

Ban himself reacted cautiously to Than Swe’s comments. The U.N. chief, who earlier briefed the Security Council on his visit, told reporters: “This is encouraging, but I will have to continue to follow up how they will implement all the issues raised during my visit in Myanmar.”

“I am not quite sure … who will be included in this amnesty,” he added.

DELIVER ON PROMISES

The Myanmar government has amnestied prisoners before. It freed 19 political detainees in February as part of a release of 6,000 prisoners after a visit by a U.N. human rights envoy.

Critics say next year’s elections, the final part of a seven-step “road map” to democracy, will be a sham designed to give legitimacy to the current authorities and entrench nearly half a century of army rule in the former Burma.

In his report to the Security Council, Ban said the Myanmar government needed to deliver on promises to make next year’s elections free and fair, to release prisoners and to start a dialogue with the opposition “in the very near future.”

“The choice for Myanmar’s leaders in the coming days and weeks will be between meeting that responsibility … or failing their own people and each one of you,” he told the 15 council members.

Most council envoys supported Ban and deplored the Myanmar junta’s refusal to let him see Suu Kyi, who is accused of breaching her house arrest terms by letting an American intruder stay at her lakeside home in Yangon in May.

British envoy Philip Parham said the move demonstrated “the regime’s fear of a free and fair political process.” If there was an “unjust outcome” in Suu Kyi’s trial, “the international community will need to … respond robustly,” he said.

U.S. envoy Rosemary DiCarlo said Suu Kyi faced “spurious charges of violating a house arrest that was illegitimate to begin with.” French Ambassador Jean-Maurice Ripert said that without the prior release of Suu Kyi “any electoral process would be just a parody of democracy.”

But in a strongly pro-Myanmar speech, Chinese envoy Liu Zhenmin said the junta’s refusal to let Ban see Suu Kyi was “totally understandable.” The international community should treat Myanmar with “less arrogance and prejudice,” he said.

Liu said China remained opposed to any sanctions, making clear that Beijing will pursue its policy of blocking any substantive council action on Myanmar through its veto.

Iran opposition leaders request OK to commemorate dead

Iranian opposition leader Mir Hossein Moussavi and a fellow presidential candidate are requesting a permit to hold a commemoration ceremony for those killed in the fallout after the June 12 elections, according to a post on Moussavi’s Web site Sunday.

At least 20 protesters were killed and more than 1,000 were arrested in Tehran in the first few days after the election, according to human rights groups.

Moussavi, a reformist and chief rival to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and fellow candidate Mehdi Karrubi sent the letter requesting a permit for the ceremony to the Islamic republic’s interior minister, according to Moussavi’s Ghalam News Web site.

The candidates want to hold the ceremony on Thursday at the site for Friday prayers, saying the date would signify the 40th day after the chaotic street demonstrations. For Iranians, a predominantly Shiite Muslim population, the 40th day marks the last official day of mourning in the immediate aftermath of a death.

The letter indicates that there will be no speeches at the proposed ceremony — only recitations from the Quran. Those who attend would be asked to pay their respects to the dead protesters by remaining silent, the letter says

Iran’s opposition asks to mourn iconic victim

Iran’s opposition leader asked authorities Sunday for permission to hold a memorial service for victims of last month’s post-election unrest, including a young woman whose death was caught on video and became a symbol for protesters.

Iranian authorities have pressured the families of slain protesters not to mourn publicly out of fear the gatherings could spark the kind of demonstrations that followed the June 12 presidential vote, according to the opposition.

Opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi and fellow pro-reform presidential candidate, Mahdi Karroubi, sent a request to the Interior Ministry to hold a memorial service in Tehran’s Mosalla mosque Thursday to commemorate the end of the 40-day mourning cycle for at least 10 people killed on June 20, Mousavi’s top aide Ali Reza Beheshti told the Associated Press.

Hundreds of thousands of Mousavi supporters took to the streets following the election to protest hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s disputed victory. Iranian security forces cracked down violently, and at least 20 protesters were killed during the unrest, according to police. Rights groups believe the number could be far greater.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has final say over all state matters, has demanded the opposition drop its claims that the election was marred by massive vote fraud. But Mousavi and his supporters have kept up the pressure by criticizing the state’s harsh response and reaching out to top clerics for support.

One of those killed on June 20 was Neda Agha Soltan, a 27-year-old woman shot to death on the sidelines of a Tehran demonstration. Her dying moments on the street were caught on a video viewed by millions on YouTube, and she became an icon in the opposition’s struggle.

Mousavi and Karroubi attempted to assuage concerns that the requested memorial would spark additional unrest, saying it “will be held without any speeches and will be limited to the reciting of the Quran (the Muslim holy book) and moments of silence.”

The government’s concern about unrest has historical precedence. The deaths of protesters during the 1979 Islamic Revolution fueled a 40-day cycle of mourning marches, and shootings of mourners, that contributed to the overthrow of the U.S.-backed dictator, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.

Authorities allowed a close ally of conservative presidential candidate Mohsen Rezaei to hold a funeral in Tehran on Friday for his son, who was arrested during a protest on July 9, the pro-reform norooznews.org Web site reported. He was taken to a hospital two weeks later where he died from his injuries hours after being admitted, it said.

Rouhalmini’s father, Abdul-Hossein, had scheduled to hold a memorial for his son Sunday but canceled the ceremony at the last minute without elaborating, the semi-official Mehr news agency reported. The Etemad-e-Melli newspaper reported earlier Sunday that Mousavi and Karroubi would attend the memorial, possibly raising fears it would turn into a demonstration.

A group of nearly 50 Mousavi supporters showed up at the site of Rouhalmini’s planned memorial Sunday to protest against the government’s crackdown on the opposition, said eyewitnesses, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal. Many Iranian policemen were also at the scene, they said.

Dozens of protesters gathered in north Tehran on Saturday and chanted “death to the dictator” and “we want our vote back” before they were attacked and beaten by police and the Basij.

Witnesses told the AP that Saturday’s demonstration was carried out in solidarity with people around the world who held coordinated protests to pressure Iran to end its violent crackdown on the opposition and release hundreds of people who are still being detained.

Also Saturday, 69 prominent opposition leaders, including Mousavi and Karroubi, appealed to top clerics in the holy city of Qom to help stop the government’s violent post-election crackdown — reaching out to the one group that could go head-to-head with the country’s supreme leader.